Guwahati: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Sunday alleged that Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi, his British wife Elizabeth Colburn and Pakistani national Ali Tauqeer Sheikh had a “deeper connection”, and that information from the Intelligence Bureau was secretly passed on to the neighbouring nation.
Addressing a press conference here ahead of the Assembly polls, Sarma also claimed that Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) rules were violated when Colburn was paid salary by Sheikh while she was working in India.
The CM also alleged that Gogoi undertook a “very confidential” visit to Pakistan in 2013 and was believed to have undergone “some kind of training” there, daring the Congress leader to come clean on the trip or face charges of “rashtra-droh” (treason).
Gogoi, also the state Congress chief, termed Sarma’s presser “worse than a C-grade cinema” a “super flop”. The CM said, “We believe there is a deeper connection between Gogoi, Colburn and Sheikh. We believe that Colburn and Sheikh were part of an international conspiracy.”
Sarma asserted they bypassed the Indian government to work with local municipal agencies, and this cannot be probed by the Assam Police. “So we recommended a national probe by the Ministry of Home Affairs,” he added.
Sarma claimed that Colburn had worked with LEAD Pakistan, an organisation run by Sheikh, before being transferred to India to work with the same group. “But her salary continued to be paid by Sheikh,” he said.zLEAD Pakistan sent money to LEAD India, and the latter paid to Colburn bypasssing FCRA regulations, the CM alleged.
“Pakistani agencies cannot donate to an Indian entity as it’s an enemy nation. Probably special permission was obtained in UPA time to pay Colburn,” he added.
The CM claimed that after working in India, Colburn started gathering information surrounding India and used to give reports to Sheikh.
“Colburn got information from IB sources about climate action after Narendra Modi came to power. She sent a 45-page report to Sheikh,” he added.
He also alleged that Colburn travelled to Islamabad six times while working with LEAD India and visited Pakistan thrice after joining another NGO.
